Drilling waste receiving assembly

ABSTRACT

A drilling waste receiving assembly includes a container having an opening in the base sized for receiving a pipe and a sidewall coupled to the base; and an annular sealing assembly for sealing an interface between the opening of the base and the pipe, a first component of the annular sealing assembly coupled to the base and aligned with the opening, the annular sealing assembly movable into a sealing position by axially advancing a second component toward the first component to compress a seal located between the first component and the second component; wherein the drilling waste receiving assembly is for receiving and containing drilling waste from a drilling operation.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the present application are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57.

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/915,477, filed Dec. 12, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to containers for receiving drilling waste in oil and gas exploration and production.

BACKGROUND DISCUSSION

During drilling of a well, equipment that pumps mud returns and material from the wellbore to a mud separation system is often housed in a hole, or cellar, that is excavated at a drilling site below a drilling rig. The hole may be lined with wood, metal or concrete in order to provide support for the walls of the hole. At drilling sites where the ground is swamp or unfrozen muskeg, for example, supporting an excavated hole below the drilling rig presents significant challenges.

SUMMARY

In an aspect of the present application, there is provided a drilling waste receiving assembly comprising: a container comprising: a base comprising an opening, the opening sized for receiving a pipe; and a sidewall coupled to the base; and an annular sealing assembly for sealing an interface between the opening of the base and the pipe, a first component of the annular sealing component coupled to the base and aligned with the opening, the annular sealing assembly movable into a sealing position by axially advancing a second component toward the first component to compress a seal located between the first component and the second component; wherein the drilling waste receiving assembly is for receiving and containing drilling waste from a drilling operation.

In another aspect there is provided a method of managing drilling waste, the method comprising: locating a drilling waste receiving assembly at a drilling site, the drilling waste receiving assembly comprising a container having an annular sealing assembly surrounding an opening of the container, the annular sealing assembly being in a loosened position; receiving a pipe through the annular sealing assembly and advancing the pipe until refusal; tightening the annular sealing assembly to form a seal between the drilling waste receiving assembly and the pipe; performing a drilling operation; wherein the drilling waste receiving assembly is for receiving and containing waste generated by the drilling operation.

Other aspects and features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present application will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a well including a drilling waste receiving assembly according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the drilling waste receiving assembly of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a seal between the drilling waste receiving assembly of FIG. 1 and a conductor pipe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments described herein. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein.

Referring to FIG. 1, a well, such as a stratigraphic well or a production well, for example, is drilled using a drilling rig including a bottom hole assembly (BHA) 16. A conductor pipe 12 and a surface casing 14 are located in a top portion of the well and a main hole 18 is drilled to a depth. A drilling waste receiving assembly 10 is located at the ground surface of the well and includes a container 24 having an opening 22 for receiving the conductor pipe 12 and an annular sealing assembly 20 that forms a seal with the conductor pipe 12.

The drilling waste receiving assembly 10 is for receiving drilling waste, which includes fluids and solid material. In general, drilling waste includes recirculated mud, cuttings and other material that flows out of the wellbore during drilling. The drilling waste exits the wellbore via the conductor pipe 12. The annular sealing assembly 20 generally prevents drilling waste from flowing between the container 24 and the conductor pipe 12 to contain the drilling waste to protect the surrounding area at the drilling site.

As shown in FIG. 2, the container 24 of the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 is generally box-shaped having an open top and including sidewalls 26 that extend upwardly from a base 28. The sidewalls 26 are coupled to the base 28 and a seal is formed therebetween so that the drilling waste is generally contained in the drilling waste receiving assembly 10. The base 28 in the example of FIG. 2 is square, however, it will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the base 28 may be any shape including: rectangular, circular or oval, for example.

The sidewalls 26 may be individual sidewalls coupled to one another or may be a single, continuous structure. Alternatively, one or more of the sidewalls 26 may be continuous with the base 28. Further, the sidewalls 26 are shown as extending at an angle of approximately 90 degrees from the base 28, however, the sidewalls 26 may alternatively be angled slightly outwardly, for example, so that the open end of the container 24 has a larger area than the base 28. The sidewalls 26 may be any shape sealed to or continuous with the base 28.

The container 24 may be made of steel, wood, composite, plastic or a combination thereof, for example. The thickness of the base 28 and sidewalls 26 is selected based on the material of the container 24. The drilling waste receiving assembly 10 is supported on unstable ground, such as unfrozen muskeg, for example, therefore, the thickness and overall structure is selected to minimize movement of the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 during operation of the drilling rig. The drilling waste receiving assembly 10 is sufficiently rigid to contain the drilling waste and support a pump and drilling crew members on the base 28 thereof when the drilling waste receiving assembly is used at a drilling site having unstable ground.

In some drilling applications, the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 may be partially or fully received below a ground surface. Further, the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 does not include a liner for stratigraphic well drilling, however, a liner may be included for production drilling operations.

In one example, the well is a slim hole stratigraphic well and the base 28 of the container 24 has dimensions of approximately 5 ft x 5 ft, the sidewalls 26 are 4 ft high and the opening 22 is sized to accommodate a conductor pipe having an outer diameter of 8 5/8 inches. In another example, base 28 of the container has dimensions less than 5 ft x 5 ft. In general, the container 24 is sized to fit under the drilling rig, within the drilling rig framework and accommodate a pump as well as one or more drilling crew members.

As shown in FIG. 3, the annular sealing assembly 20 includes a seal 30 that is selectively compressible between a first component 32 and a second component 34. The annular sealing assembly 20 is sized for: receiving the conductor pipe 12 when the first component 32 and the second component 34 are loosely coupled to one another; and providing a seal between the annular sealing assembly 20 and the conductor pipe 12 when the first component 32 and the second component 34 are tightly coupled to one another and the seal 30 is compressed. The first component 32 is aligned with the opening 22 and is fixed to the base 28 of the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 by a weld 36, for example. The first component 32 may alternatively be fixed to the base 28 by another securing method, such as fasteners or a durable adhesive, for example, that seals the joint between the first component 32 and the base 28.

As shown in FIG. 3, the second component 34 is coupled to the first component 32 by a threaded connection and is movable relative to the first component 32 between an open position in which the components 32, 34 are loosely coupled to one another and a sealed position in which the components 32, 34 are tightly coupled, by tightening the threaded connection between the first component 32 and the second component 34. In one example, the annular sealing assembly 20 is a mud tank union, manufactured by Bulldog Specialties, Ltd

As will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art, any type of mechanism that selectively forms a seal with a pipe that extends therethrough may be used. The mechanism may use axial movement of mating components to compress a seal, similar to the embodiment of FIG. 3, or may form a seal with the pipe using an alternative method.

As shown in FIG. 3, the opening 22 is generally centered in the base 28. The opening 22 may alternatively be located closer to one or two of the sidewalls 26, for example.

In operation, the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 is placed on top of the unstable ground at the well site. With the annular sealing assembly 20 in the loosely coupled position, the conductor pipe 12 is advanced through the opening 22 of the drilling waste receiving assembly into the ground until refusal. The annular sealing assembly 20 is then moved to the tightly coupled position in which a seal is provided between the annular sealing assembly 20 and the conductor pipe 12. Movement of the annular sealing assembly 20 to the tightly coupled position is achieved by rotation, facilitated by projections 38, of the second component 34 relative to the first component 32. A surface hole is then drilled by the drilling rig and drilling waste received by the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 is transferred to a separation system. The drilling waste may be transferred via a pump that is located in the drilling waste receiving assembly 10. The surface casing 14 is then installed and cemented in place and a blowout preventer (BOP) is installed.

Following installation of the BOP, the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 generally remains in position and drilling waste produced from further drilling exits the wellbore via a flow line coupled to the BOP. The drilling waste receiving assembly 10 then functions to collect fluids generated during regular drilling operation, such as spill outs that occur during connection of components, washing of the rig floor, and excess cement from abandonment plugs, for example. The fluids collected by the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 following the surface drilling operation may then be pumped or vacuumed from the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 for subsequent reuse or disposal.

The drilling waste receiving assembly 10 functions to generally prevent fluids from contacting the ground during the drilling operation. Thus, the environmental impact on the land is greatly reduced. Because unfrozen ground is more vulnerable to absorbing spills than frozen ground, the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 is particularly suitable for use on unfrozen ground, such as unfrozen muskeg, for example.

An advantage of the annular sealing assembly 20 of the drilling waste receiving assembly 10 is that the parts thereof are continuously coupled to one another, therefore, problems such as components being lost, for example, are avoided. Since drilling sites are often remotely located, finding or replacing parts that may have gone missing during transport to the drilling site, for example, may be time consuming and, therefore, costly. In addition, the annular sealing assembly 20 may be actuable without tools. Projections 38, which extend from the second component 34 facilitate manual rotation thereof to tighten the annular sealing assembly 20.

Another advantage of the annular sealing assembly 20 is that generally even pressure is applied to the seal during compression thereof when the components 32, 34 are moved toward one another. Therefore, a consistent seal is formed around the entire conductor pipe 12 and weaknesses in seal integrity associated with point loading fasteners, such as bolts, for example, is avoided.

The above-described embodiments are intended to be examples only. Alterations, modifications and variations can be effected to the particular embodiments by those of skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present application, which is defined solely by the claims appended hereto. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A drilling waste receiving assembly comprising: a container comprising: a base comprising an opening, the opening sized for receiving a pipe; and a sidewall coupled to the base; and an annular sealing assembly for sealing an interface between the opening of the base and the pipe, a first component of the annular sealing assembly coupled to the base and aligned with the opening, the annular sealing assembly movable into a sealing position by axially advancing a second component toward the first component to compress a seal located between the first component and the second component, wherein the drilling waste receiving assembly is for receiving and containing drilling waste from a drilling operation.
 2. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 1, wherein the base and the sidewall are formed from a single piece of material.
 3. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 1, wherein the base and the sidewall are coupled to one another by a weld.
 4. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 1, wherein the base and the sidewall are at least one of: steel, wood, composite and plastic.
 5. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 1, wherein the base is one of: square, rectangular, round and oval.
 6. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 1, wherein the base is flat.
 7. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 1, wherein the container is sized for receiving a pump.
 8. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 1, wherein the annular sealing assembly comprises a threaded connection between the first component and the second component.
 9. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 1, wherein the annular sealing assembly is a mud tank union.
 10. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 1, wherein the base is rigid to support the drilling waste and a pump when the drilling waste receiving assembly is used at a drilling site having unstable ground.
 11. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 10, wherein the unstable ground is unfrozen muskeg.
 12. The drilling waste receiving assembly of claim 1, wherein the pipe is a conductor pipe.
 13. A method of managing drilling waste, the method comprising: locating a drilling waste receiving assembly at a drilling site, the drilling waste receiving assembly comprising a container having an annular sealing assembly surrounding an opening of the container, the annular sealing assembly being in a loosened position; receiving a pipe through the annular sealing assembly and advancing the pipe until refusal; tightening the annular sealing assembly to form a seal between the drilling waste receiving assembly and the pipe; and performing a drilling operation, p1 wherein the drilling waste receiving assembly is for receiving and containing waste generated by the drilling operation.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein locating the drilling waste receiving assembly comprises placing the drilling waste receiving assembly on a ground surface of unfrozen muskeg.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the pipe is advanced into the ground by coupling a drill string and the pipe to a common drive mechanism of a drilling rig.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the waste is removed from the container by a pump.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the pump is located in the drilling waste receiving assembly.
 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the base is rigid to support the waste and a pump when the drilling waste receiving assembly is used at a drilling site having unstable ground.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the unstable ground is unfrozen muskeg.
 20. The method of claim 13, wherein the pipe is a conductor pipe. 